Rd Erickson, Alligator TownMember Since June 2009Artist Statement I'm a 'native' Floridian. Grew up in the south central part of the state, running through the woods and swamps, totaly in love with nature.

I've spent a good deal of time painting in watercolor, successfully capturing some of the beauty of nature in landscapes and flowers. I began my abstract work after earning a BFA from the University of Florida. Photography has become my new passion, the paintbrush and paper put away for a season.

I came with nothing, I go with nothing. within almost everything there is beauty or the ability to be beautiful. It takes the minds eye, not always the one we see with to find it. Pity those that pass so swiftly through that they see nothing but their own thoughts wandering aimlessly, bound up in work or tomorrow. . They fail to see the rainbow in a spot of oil, or the tall pine of tomorrow in the little sprout beside the old log. . We are bound by where we came from, our experience in life, the happiness, the failure, and finally our hope. Every choice you make determines the next choice. Making no choice is a choice.

I've discovered two things in traveling around this earth: First, people are people. Second, there is beauty everywhere - except where man has corrupted it. Not everything we do is ugly, but much we do is.